Senior Principal CPU Architec

European Tech Recruit; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

European Tech Recruit seeks a Senior Principal CPU Architect to shape the next generations of high-performance CPU architecture in Cambridge.

This strategic individual-contributor role focuses on long-term architecture, ISA development, advanced microarchitecture, workload analysis and hardware/software co-design, including Generative AI workloads. You’ll collaborate with compiler/OS teams and contribute to roadmaps.

Qualifications

• Extensive industry experience in high-performance CPU architecture.
• Deep understanding of out-of-order execution, branch prediction, and cache coherency.
• Strong understanding of ISA design, memory consistency and virtualization.
• Experience with workload profiling, performance counters and simulation traces.
• Familiarity with VTune, Perf, SimPoints or similar performance analysis environments.
• Strong experience developing cycle-accurate architectural simulators using C, C++ and Python.
• MS or PhD in Computer Engineering, CS, EE or related discipline.
• Experience delivering multiple high-performance CPU designs through silicon tape-out.
• Experience with x86, Arm and/or RISC-V.
• Contributions to LLVM, GCC, architectural frameworks or open ISA communities.
• Knowledge of chiplets, 3D stacking and advanced semiconductor packaging.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural pathfinding for next-generation CPU designs.
• Define microarchitectural concepts covering fetch/decode, execution pipelines, and memory hierarchies.
• Evaluate and define new ISA capabilities, including vector/matrix extensions.
• Analyse emerging workloads and translate software bottlenecks into microarchitectural requirements.
• Work closely with compiler, OS and application software teams on HW/SW co-design.
• Guide development of C++ and Python based cycle-accurate CPU simulation models.
• Evaluate architectural concepts across performance, power and area.
• Provide senior technical leadership and contribute to longer-term technology roadmaps.

Skills

CPU architecture

Performance analysis

Workload analysis

Hardware/software co-design

C++/Python

Education

MS or PhD in Computer Engineering/CS/EE

Tools

C/C++

Python

Simulation tools

Job description

Our client is looking for a highly experienced Senior Principal CPU Architect to help define the next generations of high-performance CPU architecture.

This is a strategic individual-contributor position focused on long-term CPU architecture, ISA development, advanced microarchitecture, workload analysis and hardware/software co-design.

You will help shape CPU technologies several years ahead of production and work on computational challenges including Generative AI, LLMs, graph analytics and confidential computing.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead architectural pathfinding for next-generation CPU designs and technologies.
• Define microarchitectural concepts covering fetch/decode, execution pipelines, out-of-order scheduling and multi-level memory hierarchies.
• Evaluate and define new ISA capabilities, including vector/matrix extensions and specialised compute instructions.
• Analyse emerging workloads and translate software bottlenecks into microarchitectural requirements.
• Work closely with compiler, operating system and application software teams on hardware/software co-design.
• Guide development of C++ and Python based cycle-accurate CPU simulation models.
• Evaluate architectural concepts across performance, power and area.
• Provide senior technical leadership and contribute to longer-term technology roadmaps.

Requirements

• Extensive industry experience in high-performance CPU architecture.
• Deep understanding of out-of-order execution, branch prediction, register renaming, speculative execution, cache hierarchies and coherency protocols.
• Strong understanding of ISA design, exception models, memory consistency and virtualisation.
• Experience with workload profiling, performance counters and simulation traces.
• Familiarity with tools such as VTune, Perf, SimPoints or similar performance analysis environments.
• Strong experience developing cycle-accurate architectural simulators using C, C++ and Python.
• MS or PhD in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Experience delivering multiple high-performance CPU designs through silicon tape-out.
• Experience with x86, Arm and/or RISC-V.
• Contributions to LLVM, GCC, architectural frameworks or open ISA communities.
• Knowledge of chiplets, 3D stacking and advanced semiconductor packaging.